Transaero To Fly A380s To New York Starting Later This Year

When it comes to airlines I have odd fascinations with, I think Transaero ranks at the top of that list. At least as far as airlines I haven’t yet flown. I mean, how could you not be fascinated by an airline which makes Emirates interiors look modest by comparison?

My enthusiasm for Transaero is only increased by the fact that they’re the next airline to take delivery of the A380. I also have a bit of an A380 obsession, and have been fortunate enough to fly every A380 first class product in the world. This includes:

When you combine my fascination with Transaero with my love of the A380, there’s some really exciting news. Transaero is the next airline to take delivery of the A380, and will apparently begin flying it to New York as of later this year.

Transaero Airlines will indeed take delivery of two A380-800s later this summer the governor of Primorsky Krai in Russia’s Far East, Vladimir Miklushevskiy, has disclosed. The carrier has four of the type on order from Airbus Industrie.

“Currently, services to the region are operated using different equipment. In summer 2015, services will also be operated using the largest aircraft in the world, the A380, and our runway can accommodate this,” he said. “Transaero Airlines is acquiring two such aircraft, they will be used on services to Vladivostok and New York JFK.”

First of all, Transaero’s A380s will feature 652 seats, including only 12 first class seats and 24 business class seats. That will be the highest density A380 in service. To put that into perspective, Emirates will soon be introducing two cabin A380s, which will still have fewer seats than Transaero’s three cabin A380.

I've written extensively about the increased sign-up bonuses on the two best credit cards for accruing ThankYou points: -- The Citi ThankYou® Premier Card, which is offering an improved 50,000 point sign-up bonus -- The Citi Prestige Card, which is offering…

One of the key benefits of the Chase Hyatt Visa is the free anniversary night credited to your account every year at a Category 1 through 4 Hyatt property. While the most aspirational Hyatt properties are often at least a Category 5 and typically Categories…

More from One Mile at a Time

Hello from Dubai! After an interesting week in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, we took the three hour flight from Dushanbe to Dubai yesterday on Somon Air. Tajikistan has two main airlines -- Tajik Air, the state owned airline, and Somon Air, the private…

I tend to think that most US airlines fall into one of four categories: -- Global and/or network carriers -- Low cost carriers -- Ultra low cost carriers -- Regional carriers There's no denying that the line isn't as clear as it used to be. While ultra…

Hello from Tashkent! On Thursday we flew from New York to Tashkent on Uzbekistan Airways’ new nonstop flight. For years the airline has operated a flight from New York to Tashkent via Riga, though as of last month one of the two weekly frequencies operates…

I boarded through the forward door, where I was greeted by the crew and pointed towards my seat. Mongolian's 767 business class cabin consists of a total of 25 seats, spread across five rows in a 2-1-2 configuration. It's not too often you see configurations…

My flight from Ulaanbaatar to Frankfurt was departing at 10AM, so I got to the airport plenty early, at around 6:15AM. Ulaanbaatar Airport is quite small, and there's only a single terminal. Upon entering the terminal, domestic check-in was to the right,…

Hello from Tashkent, Uzbekistan! Matthew and I just flew Uzbekistan Airways’ 787 business class from New York to Tashkent. I’ll have more on the actual flight shortly, but first wanted to write about a situation we faced on our flight. Just a few days…

About luckyBen Schlappig (aka Lucky) is a travel consultant, blogger, and avid points collector. He travels about 400,000 miles a year, primarily using miles and points to fund his first class experiences. He chronicles his adventures, along with industry news, here at One Mile At A Time.

I wouldn’t hold your breath, with all due respect to the esteemed governor. Airbus hasn’t even started final assembly of Transaero’s birds.

Even if they’re getting the Skymark or MH ones (and why would they want more, with the Russian economy tanking?) there’s no way they’d be ready ion a couple of months, given need for outfitting, training, route testing, certification…

Is there really that much demand on the Moscow – New York route to justify using such a high capacity A380?

Anyway, this would be a great opportunity to burn some Skymiles and try & review Aeroflot’s business class. You could take Aeroflot over to Moscow and return on Transaero. The daytime return would allow you to experience Imperial Class in all its glory. This would make for an awesome trip report and I would urge you not to even wait for the A380. And take Nick! His prospective would be priceless!

Lucky, I know you love Park Hyatts; however, I would avoid the one in Moscow. I find it to be drab and sterile. The Radisson Blu (the old Hotel Ukrania from Soviet times) is delightfully over-the-top.

I am starting to question the mantra that a US carrier could not sustain an A380 when so many foreign carriers are essentially flying them solely between the US and elsewhere on 24-hour round-trip routes. Are the CASMs really that much higher when you can stuff that many seats in?

you know most Russians are smart enough to know to never fly a Russian airline, they are so afraid of that, they rather take a 12 hour train ride. Just fyi for someone who knows a few Russians. I would never fly any Russian airline… Such a bad idea… Also on the topic of Moscow hotels I prefer the ritz Carlton safe bet.

I’m pointing out the obvious, I suppose, but you know you’re hard core when flying all the way to Moscow counts as mere “positioning.”

As for why US airlines don’t fly the A380, Google “Why don’t us airlines fly the A380?” Apart from what you’ll discover after doing that — the magic concept is “frequency” — the four-engine A380 is also more expensive to operate per passenger seat-mile than its smaller competitors and will remain so until someone stuffs more than something like 700-800 seats in it. Could that happen? Sure. Will it happen in my lifetime? I rather very much doubt it.

This makes me happy!! I live in Vladivostok, and though I am not a big fan of Transaero (I generally prefer Aeroflot), I will for sure try the new A380 when it begins service here. I read the comments by Governor Miklushevsky recently. The current airport in Vladivostok is quite new (2012), but as of now has no A380 service from any of the airlines that service it. The only concern I have is whether or not the terminal can handle it, or if it will be loaded via a remote stand. Also, ther airport is tiny and already has crowding and queue issues. We’ll see how they manage it. I have flown every airline that services Vladivostok, with the exception of Air Koryo and KrasAvia. I am excited to try this product. I can fly to Moscow, then NY on this product next time is go home to visit. Now, perfect chance for you to try the Imperial Class, and visit the Russian Far East 😉

@Jay: I trust Aeroflot and Trasnsaero moreso than Delta, American, Spirit, etc……The Russian aviation industry is much improved, and is now at international standards. Having lived in Russia for a couple of years, I can confidently say that I much prefer domestic flights in Russia over domestic flights in the US.

@Dan: Actually, that route is quite popular. I fly it very often, both on Aeroflot and Transaero. You would be surprised how full the flights are on a consistent basis. Rarely have I been on a flight that was not full between the two cities. Don’t forget, in Russia, everything runs through Moscow, so almost every person I know in Vladivostok has been to Moscow, more than once. The air tickets to Moscow from Vlad are now cheaper than the train tickets, generally. But, regionally, most people take trains (even me), as this is an engrained part of the culture, and is a cool experience.

@Jay: As far as historically, they are absolutely correct. I generally was referring to the major Russian carriers today. But, there are regional carriers in Russia I wouldn’t trust, either. It all depends on who you fly. Funny story: A few weeks back, I was the director of a conference at Amur State University in Blagoveshchensk. The only direct flight from Vladivostok was via KrasAvia on an old Soviet-era Yak-47 at ~$50 (The Aeroflot flight required a flight to Moscow first. and would have taken 17+ hours, and cost more than flying to Atlanta from Vlad). So, I took a train (22.5 hours, same price as KrasAvia flight). Two Russian colleagues flew the KrasAvia flight, and said they feared for their lives the entire time 😀

Recent Trip Reports

I was recently in Seattle for a couple of nights, a trip which I booked pretty last minute. Seattle is a very seasonal hotel market. In winter rates are quite low, while in summer they aren't. Most decent hotels were running $400+ per night, so I decided…

I recently visited Tiffany in Spokane for a couple of days, as she recently moved there. Spokane is a bit of an unusual hotel market. While I'm usually loyal to Hyatt or Starwood, neither brand has a hotel there. However, while the city isn't huge, it…

Delta has been growing significantly in Seattle, and last October they opened a gorgeous new SkyClub as part of their investment in the airport. Nick wrote about the lounge back when it opened, though I wanted to add a review as well, given how impressed…

This is going to be a short review, as this was a flight without a meal service and we napped most of the way, but I figured I'd share my general thoughts on United's domestic first class product. Our flight was scheduled to board at 7:37PM, so we headed…

Recent Posts

Over the years I've spent a significant amount of time in Dubai. I got the objections people have with the UAE (and I suspect I share almost all of them), though it's still a place that energizes me, and I can't easily put into words why. That's neither…

Ben recommends earning transferable points when possible. They provide a lot of flexibility since you can hold them in your account until you are ready to redeem them. This provides a level of diversification because if one airline or hotel program devalues,…

Ben and I have recently been sharing our experiences flying low cost carriers. He and I both flew Spirit for the first time this summer, while I've also had several flights on Frontier over the past few years. I even flew SkyBus during their brief history!…

Last week I wrote about the Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card, which is probably the single most well rounded business credit card out there. The card has a huge 80,000 point sign-up bonus (by my math the biggest bonus of any card), offers triple points…

About Lucky

Ben Schlappig (aka Lucky) is a travel consultant, blogger, and avid points collector. He travels about 400,000 miles a year, primarily using miles and points to fund his first class experiences. He chronicles his adventures, along with industry news, here at One Mile At A Time.

Meet The Team

One Mile at a Time is owned by PointsPros, Inc. This site is for entertainment purposes only. The owner of this site is not an investment advisor, financial planner, nor legal or tax professional and articles here are of an opinion and general nature and should not be relied upon for individual circumstances.

Advertiser Disclosure: Some links to credit cards and other products on this website will earn an affiliate commission. Outside of banner ads published through the Boarding Area network, this compensation does not impact how and where products appear on this site. While we do try to list all the best miles and points deals, the site does not include all card companies or credit card offers available in the marketplace. Please view our advertising policy page for additional details about our partners.

Editorial Disclosure: The editorial content on this page is not provided by any entity mentioned herein. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.